Are Your Customers Just Not That Into You?

Let’s be honest for a second; it’s really hard to stomach the fact that your hard-earned customers may stray from you one day. While the reason can sometimes be completely unclear, the truth is screaming out to you in a whinny voice: your once loyal customers are now cheating on you with a company who is younger, more attractive and has a better physique (ahem, we mean a superior brand strategy). This other option looks better and piques their interest more. I know it’s hard pill to swallow, but some tough love might be just what you need to shape up and win them back.

Most times, it’s not something that you did; after all, many marketing campaigns follow a similar format and utilize the same tactics. Oftentimes, it’s what you’re not doing that’s costing you your customers’ affection.

Here are some examples of companies’ stellar brand strategies when it comes to reaching out to disengaged customers and pulling them back in.

The Long-Lost Shopping Carts

We’ve all done it. We’ve browsed dozens of company websites – whether it’s Lord and Taylor, Amazon.com or Apple – and tossed items into our shopping carts that we have wanted at the moment, to never revisit that cart again.

We may leave the site without a worry, but for the company, this is certainly cause for concern.

The first step to reselling lost customers is to acknowledge the fact that your customer left something of yours behind, and more importantly, had the intent of buying at the time. Step two to this equation is reaching out to the customer in a personalized way that is fun, timely and relevant.

Last month, a consumer survey revealed that customers are progressively ditching brand loyalty for more personalized service. In other words, the strength of your brand is no longer nearly as important as is your ability to service your customers in a caring, individualized way.

Let’s look at the way retailer Kate Spade sent out the follow notification e-mail and how it compares to the one on the right:

Kate Spade’s re-engagement campaign (left) is fun and colorful, and talks directly to the customer as if the company and customer are friends in mid-conversation. What really makes it stand out among the dozens of deletable e-mails like the one on the right, though, is that it offers customers free shipping on their order if they decide to revisit and complete their purchase. This is not a mass-produced promotional code or discount, but one that is personally offered to the recipient.

One great way to approach this way of reeling in disengaged customers is to offer them a special discount just to show your appreciation of them being a customer in the past. It seems Kate Spade is onto something here.

Another interesting suggestion can involve including a testimonial video of the product. For your customers who are more visual, this is a surefire way to spark their interest again.

Leveraging Real Life Occurrences in Real Time

Let me clarify that you definitely do not want to pull what American Apparel did back in October 2012, when the company enraged customers with the controversial connotations of its Hurricane Sandy sale. Instead, take a fun approach to a snow storm like Urban Outfitters did in the e-mail below.

Compare the look and feel of the not-so-smart example to the right and Urban Outfitters’ to the left:

With New Englander’s snowed in for days on end last month due to Storm Nemo, this was the perfect brand strategy to pique interest. Real-life occurrences can serve as a great opportunity to remind your wandering customers to hop onto your website and buy – respectfully, of course. For your existing customers who are on the fence of completely vanishing, this can serve as a light and fun way to promote your brand while also showing that you haven’t forgotten about them.

It’s these tiny yet creative details that make all the difference to keep your customers coming back. Just remember – keep it personal and inviting! Your customer is no fool, and he or she will immediately detect the difference.